Tea ceremony rinse-water bowl

Object Details

• Artist

  Nonomura Ninsei (active ca. 1646-77)

• Description

  Tea-ceremony waste-water jar (kensui), wheel-thrown and pushed into an uneven oval in upper part; rim pinched into scallops; flat base.

  Clay: Shigaraki type, rough gray stoneware (high feldspar content with inclusions) fired reddish and brown on surface. Kyoto version of "Shigaraki" clay.

  Glaze: Natural kiln gloss, no applied glaze except a bit of greenish glaze outside and a bluish droplet inside which may have dropped on it accidentally.

  Mark: Ninsei impressed in clay, center base.

• Marks

  Ninsei impressed in clay, center base.

• Provenance

  To 1911

  Y. Fujita and Company, Kyoto, to 1911 [1]

  From 1911 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Y. Fujita and Company in 1911 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 2184, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Seasons: Tea (February 5 to August 7, 2011)

  Seasons: Arts of Japan (February 5, 2011 to January 13, 2013)

  Rusticity Refined: Kyoto Ceramics by Ninsei (March 19 to October 23, 2005)

  Japanese Art in the Age of Koetsu (June 6, 1998 to February 15, 1999)

  Japanese Art (May 9, 1993 to November 21, 1995)

  Kyoto Ceramics (November 9, 1984 to April 25, 1985)

  Japanese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to January 17, 1980)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Y. Fujita and Company (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Omuro kiln, Kyoto, Kyoto prefecture, Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Fujita

• Place

  Omuro kiln, Kyoto, Japan, Kyoto prefecture

• Topic

  Tea, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Stoneware, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Ceramics

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)